See Also

Nutrition Labels for Alcohol Beverages

Ever wonder how many carbohydrates or how much cholesterol might
be in your favorite alcohol beverage? The labels don’t provide
this information, although it’s required on other food and
beverage containers.

Fortunately, the National Consumers League and the Center for Science
in the Public Interest have petitioned the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax
and Trade Bureau to revise the information provided on alcohol beverage
container labels

These proposal calls for labels to list:

The alcohol content per serving. Of great value to consumers
would be listing the number of drinks per container. This would
help eliminate the common but dangerous misperception that a drink
of liquor contains more alcohol than a beer. Consumers need to
know that standard drinks of beer, wine and distilled spirits
contain equivalent amounts of alcohol; to a Breathalyzer they’re
all the same.

The US Department of Agriculture’s definition of moderate
drinking. This is acceptable, although it specifies fewer drinks
per day that does the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and
Alcoholism.

The number of calories per serving. Many consumers, especially
those who are weight- conscious, would use this information. There’s
not room on a label to provide medical research evidence that
calories from alcohol beverages don’t seem to add weight,
and that consumption is often associated with slight weight loss
in women. Because the scientific research on this subject is not
yet conclusive, there is no harm in simply listing caloric content
with no elaboration

Ingredients, knowledge of which might be useful to some people
with certain allergies.

The only problem with the proposal is that it doesn’t go
far enough -- it’s a halfway measure. Seriously lacking is
a call for some of the basic nutritional information of great interest
to most Americans.

The proposal might help those with rare allergies but ignore the
vast majority of Americans who care greatly about fat (total and
saturated), cholesterol, carbohydrates and sodium. Although useful,
the proposal doesn’t call for listing any nutrients on nutritional
labels!

Alcohol beverage nutrition labels should include the nutritional
information desired by the vast majority of American consumers.

References:

National Consumers League and Center for Science
in the Public Interest plus others including AA Newsletter, National
Woman’s Christian Union, Sober Living Network, and Faces and
Voices of Recovery. Petition to Improve Mandatory Label Information
on Alcoholic Beverages. http://www.nclnet.org/pressroom/alcohol_calorie_labeling_petition.pdf